RURAL LIFE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY 



of hardy adventurers, invoking the blessing of Heaven 

 upon their enterprise, and praying that their posterity 

 might be an upright and godly people to the land." 



A very different view of what constituted blessing 

 and honor is said to have been voiced by another mem- 

 ber of the party when he put up a petition praying "that 

 his posterity might always be blessed with plenty of rum 

 and military glory." 



On further investigation of the region the following 

 day, they found much of the valley land free from un- 

 derbrush as a result of the Indian custom of annual 

 burning. A suitable location for the "home lots" being 

 agreed upon, this tract was divided into parcels, the 

 outlying areas being held for later division. "No one 

 could have more than twenty-five acres for his home lot, 

 and the poorest among them was entitled to ten ; so that 

 a few rich could not control the township." This was 

 the usual plan for these earlier settlements, and a very 

 wise one it was. It provided for compact villages where 

 defense against the Indians was effective. It laid the 

 foundations for developing a sturdy race of yeomen, 

 who, being land owners, would each feel an interest in 

 the welfare of the new country, and it almost unwit- 

 tingly provided the villages with the little open parks 

 which are now so attractive in many of the country 

 towns. The houses of the home lots were usually built 

 around a hollow square enclosing the common. When 



£20] 



